Frustration in Challenge games..

[Tasmanian_tiger]

So I've been trying for a long time (since ZT2 was out.. lol), to find a way to make zoos as profitable as in ZT1. I never used cheats.. but I'm starting to doubt if it's even possible in ZT2.

 

The thing I do though, is: I first build for all rating 0.5 animals, then for all 1.0 etc.. I do this, because I like to catch them a.. I mean, have them all and I like to spread guests out evenly over the zoo.

 

But.. right now I'm at 5 years with with a zoo, I'm only at challenge rating 2.0 animals (I am in general at challenge rating 5.. more on this later..) And the frustration. Not only does the game run slow (I can live with that), but I get messages all the time of zoo keepers that are too stupid to reach food bowls, clean-ups, etc.. (The joy of going to see what's happening and seeing the zoo keeper claiming he can't reach the bowl, standing right next to the bowl, with a fence in between, the gate two steps away around the corner. Then seeing the keeper turn away, walking to the nearest bank, to sit because he has nothing to do.. Next animals getting reeal mad.. AGK. *Pulls hair.) Animal messages the whole time that they are mad because they don't have any water/food/can't reach it (tree/other animal in between).

 

I can handle those.. but I can't handle slaving away (cleaning 20+ exhibits, relocating zoo-keepers, learning tricks, doing challenges, digging for fossiles) and then getting at the end of the month having.. 5000 winst.. or nothing at all.

 

I tend to build a bit spaced out, I build eating facilities, hire guides (not too many), and such. Shortly, I tried a lot. I started over and over again, but nothing seemed to help. I'm at 5 years now, with 60,000 money, started with 15,000. I mean, that ain't right.

 

Problem is also, you reach 5 five stars waay too soon, thus getting challenges (one thing that helps to earn money) for 5 stars, while you have only 2 star animals.

 

I guess I could start getting higher star animals when they become available, but then I don't have the money.. since the money flow is very slow. (I don't think I ever got over 10,000 a month.. ever, without a challenge.)

 

I wanted to play a good chunk of the day, today, having vacation.. but suddenly I realized.. Taz.. just quit this zoo.. it's never going to be profitable. So I thought, let's hop on here and ask how you guys and girls do it with challenge games. In fact, has anyone done it? From say, 15,000 cash to a zoo with all 5 star animals, challenge game?

 

I use the biggest maps.. start low in cash.. I like ZT2, the interactions, the mini games.. but having no profit just isn't fun. I see all those nice animals, but I can't build nothing nor buy them. Any tips on good exhibit building are also welcome.

[(Trustee)Menolly]

I agree the challenges are really frustrating. I finally just gave up and use the freeform side of the game.

[pukkie]

It is horrible and I recognise it all but unlike Menolly I gave up entirely and play ZooTycoon the real thing happily ever after

[Hecklar]

Building profitable zoo's can be a major challenge ;)

 

I assume you know you can always decline a challenge; I always decline them if I do not have the animals that are required - that way you avoid the frustration of not being able to complete them.

 

As for animals, I am not sure that your strategy is a feasible one. Donations are a big money maker in zoo's and some animals earn more in donations than others. Generally higher ranked animals earn higher donations than lower ranked animals.

 

The fennec fox, the giant panda and African elephants, among others, are big money makers.

 

As for the zookeepers, I always keep them locked up in their exhibits. They do no seem to mind and seem to perform better that way - it is important though to assign them to their exhibit(s). If I want them to take care of animals in more than 1 exhibit I make a gate in the adjoining wall between the exhibits, but no gates leading out of the exhibits. If you want to, you can always put a bench in the exhibit, hidden behind some threes or a shelter. The animals do not seem to mind.

 

Also, monitor your food stands and attractions - if they are losing money, try moving them. If that doesn't help, sell them so that you do not have anything in your zoo that will lose money.

 

Research and buy the compost building when you can - that is also a big money maker and well worth the investment.

 

I hope this helped a bit :)

[(Trustee)genkicoll]

Let's see... how did I make money again? It's been a year since I played any of it, but I'll try to remember.

 

STAFF:

 

I never hire zookeepers until I get too many animals to take care of myself. That will save you a lot of money in your first few months. You also don't need tour guides right away, and don't buy any food service buildings or bathrooms until February 1st since you really don't need them right away. I almost never use maintenance men, just do the cleanup myself.

 

If you have fencing containing your animals, DON'T put a gate in. Instead, put in a zookeeper and place a bench for them to rest on hidden behind foliage or their shelter. Their tasks will reset when they rest on the bench, and they'll never be out of the exhibit and away from the animals. This is especially important for large, multi-species exhibits.

 

EXHIBITS:

 

Something I like to do with my exhibits that saves a LOT of money is to build with the cheapest fence available, then lower the exhibit enough that the animals can't get out. You can then bulldoze the fencing and get some of the money back, or you can keep the fencing as-is if you prefer. Either way you just saved a bundle on fencing since you didn't have to build with those expensive fences! :elkgrin:

 

ANIMALS:

 

Start off with the cheapest animals, and ones you can have in the same biome (like savannah). Buy only one female of each low-priced savannah animal. This will give you a variety of animal types in your zoo, which makes guests happy. Buy one male of one of the species, and then DON'T DO ANYTHING ELSE except clean up poo, fill water dishes, etc in zookeeper mode. As soon as the male breeds with the female, hit the undo button. Repeat with the other species in the exhibit.

 

Go for the least expensive endangered species that you can get. When they give birth, you get congratulatory balloons at your front gate, which you can sell! $$

 

As soon as you start getting enough animals, release some to the wild. This will increase your zoo rating and bring in more guests. When your "release to the wild" gauge gets full, there is no longer any benefit to releasing them, so there is something you can do to get money for the animals you don't want anymore (though it's barbaric, it will make you money): Make a small hidden exhibit, one that the guests can't see into, and place a predator in there. Give it no food or water, you need it to be angry. When you have animals that you don't want anymore, plunk them in there with the predator and wait a few moments. Soon they will be a carcass that you can sell for $800. (Ewwww~!!)

 

 

More variety of animals means a higher zoo rating, so build some more multi-species exhibits. Make sure you have your donation boxes available, too! And speaking of donation boxes, there is a "cheat" that you can do:

 

DONATIONS:

 

Watch a happy guest's thoughts. When they say that they're going to make a donation, switch to the category where you can see their possessions. The moment you see money disappear from their inventory, pick them up and put them right back down where they were standing. The game doesn't realize that they just made the donation and they'll do it again. You can clear out a guest's spending money this way, so be sure to have an ATM available! :laugh:

 

AMENITIES:

 

As soon as you can, research the compost building and place it in a hidden area of your zoo. Every time you clean up poo, it goes into the building. To empty out the building (and get $$$$!!! for the compost), go into zookeeper mode and walk up to the building. If there's enough in there, it will tell you to press the spacebar to empty, and watch your money gauge soar!

 

When you build a food court, clean it up yourself and don't bother with a maintenance man. As soon as you can, research and place a family restaurant and bulldoze the food court. Just like in ZT1, it's cheaper and CLEANER than food courts.

 

When you can, add in kiddie rides, as they make the kids very happy, and happy kids donate money. Bored kids just complain :24:

 

I'll add more tips when I can think of them, but this should give you a good start.

[Tasmanian_tiger]

First; thanks for the many tips.

 

Heklar~ Yes, I was thinking that I probably am doing this the wrong way. I am able to build some higher rated animals, after a short time in the game, but the completist in me yearns to get them all. Probably not a so good thing.

 

I didn't know this at all of the benches. I will try this most certainly. I have some experience fencing zoo keepers in from ZT1. That will help too.;P

 

genkicoll~I did take care of my animals the first months and even the first year (I think I hired one zookeeper near the end of the year) and indeed, then I was making a reasonable profit. It's when I start to have many exhibits, mini-games (like training the dolphins and such) that things start spiralling out of control and become less profitable to not worth the effort.

 

I will most certainly try your tips with the male animal. I'm hesitant to try the predator tip, not because of weak heart or something, but because I feel such 'cheats' shouldn't be needed to play the game. (And then I'm blaming the makers of ZT2 for that..)

 

About the compost building, WOW, I didn't knew that. I always build it, but I didn't realize you could empty it. Now I'm curious how much that's stacked in there after 5 years. :laugh: I was selling balloons all right, in late end game, it was the only thing that made me money.. sigh.

 

~I was changing my .xml files of my animals to use the money hack (don't worry, I copied the original versions somewhere safe), I'm tempted to try again without it, but then following most of the advice. On the other side, I'm still a bit sceptical..

 

And yep, I've started another ZT zoo and boy.. so relaxing. (Sorry ZT2! XP)

[Guest RSoxNo1]

I'm not sure if it's on here, but the only hack I use is the guestMgr hack with the increased zoo capacity. I also find that my donations increase a lot more with the skytram than with the Jeep ride.

[(Trustee)genkicoll]

Ohh, that's right! I'd forgotten about that! I don't generally build a jeep ride since I tend to use the lowered exhibit method to save $$ (which makes the terrain impassable for the jeeps), but I do build a sky tram as soon as I can afford it! The guests love them and they bring in a lot of money!